For as long as I can remember, I have been trying to take seemingly complex ideas and concepts and make them simple to understand and apply. I am always on the hunt for better and simpler ways to communicate. Admittedly I can, at times, oversimplify. In most cases, it seems to be of help and encouragement to put the “cookies,” as it were, on the lower shelf for the average person to grasp. With this in mind, I have been thinking of what is involved in good leadership. Are there dozens of things to think about, perhaps hundreds? I am confident that there are leadership attributes lists in the world of thinking and writing which are extremely long. Apart from a solid walk with Jesus, let me suggest that many (if not most) qualities fall into two broad categories.

1. Getting along

2. Getting it done

They go hand-in-glove. If you have potential or current leaders who get along famously with their team and direct reports, are loved by everybody, but can’t deliver on time, with excellence, he/she is not really leading. They may be loving, but not leading. Leadership is about taking people from where they are to where they canbe and that necessitates being able to get things done. It has been my experience that when all is said and done, a lot more is said than done.

On the other hand, if you are one of those task-oriented leaders who crank it out with precision and passion and regularly get it done, but can’t fit into a team and get along with others, you can become a pain in the you-know-what. People don’t like to, or want to, work with/for you. Oh, to have a beautiful marriage between the two components of people and tasks; getting along with your teammates, affirming each other and, at the same, time executing with excellence and on time.

For years I focused on getting it done. Now, in this season of my life, I’m making up for lost time by getting along, being a positive and affirming team member, welcoming other ideas and other perspectives and, simultaneously, getting it done. I believe you need to develop both to be a well-rounded leader. Can’t we all just get along? Yes, we can, but we also need to get it done!